retrieved, is
fundamentally pagan, antique. The record of the salvation of the world,
achieved by a hero once and for all time, the historification of the
divine spark which is daily re-born in the soul, entirely corresponds to
the Greek myths of gods and demi-gods which before their new, symbolical
interpretation, were taken quite literally. I am not now concerned with
the problem of how far the antique heroes and Eastern mysteries directly
influenced the conception of the figure of Christ; I only wish to
emphasise the profound contrast between true religion which springs up
in the soul of the individual, and historical tradition. If there is
such a thing as religion, it must exist equally for all men, for those
who accidentally received a report of a certain historical event, as
well as for those who remained in ignorance of the fact. All heretical
demonstrations were rooted in a vague realisation of this contrast. But
Eckhart accomplished the unparalleled deed of once more building a
bridge between the soul and the deity; of relegating to the background
all the ineradicable historical misrepresentations or, if there was no
alternative, of unhesitatingly proclaiming them as erroneous, or
interpreting them symbolically. "St. Paul's words," he says, for
instance, "are nothing but the words of Paul; it is not true that he
spoke them in a state of grace." He did not regard the Scriptures as the
bourne of truth, but as subsequent proof of the directly experienced
truth of the divine event. With this conception Christianity had reached
its highest stage. Henceforth the origin of all truths and values was no
longer sought in doctrine and authority, but in the soul of man; God was
neither to be found in the heavens nor in history, but in the soul; the
soul must become divine and creative; it had found its task: the
recreation of the world. It was true, St. Augustine had said: "_Non
Christianised, Christi sumus_," but this saying had never been
understood, and very probably St. Augustine had not meant it in its
literal sense. At last the fundamental consciousness of Christianity had
triumphed: the principle of the "Son-of-Godship" inspired the soul of
the mystics; in future religion must emanate from the soul and find its
goal in God; written documents and--in the case of the profoundest
thinkers--examples were no longer needed. The heretical sects had been
content to reject post-evangelical tradition, in order to lay greater